FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT CARE COVERAGE - PAGE 5

While our government is worried about weapons of mass destruction in other parts of the globe, here are some facts from the Institute of Medicine, a group that advises the government on health matters: 1. 18,000 people in the United States die before their time each year because uninsured people tend to seek health care later and less often than those with health insurance. 2. Our economy loses between $65 billion and $130 billion every year when people without health insurance get sick or die prematurely.

I commend the members of the state House who voted to establish the Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care program. This is a step in the right direction, much more must be done to meet the health-care needs of all Pennsylvanians. Last May, at age 27, I graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law and my student health insurance coverage ended. My family gave me a loan to purchase health insurance, but I was rejected because I have a "pre-existing condition," rheumatoid arthritis.

Capital Blue Cross members who struggled over the holidays to get mental health coverage now have a reason to celebrate. After reviewing 2008 federal rules, Capital Blue Cross has reinstated its mental health care benefits for individual plans, a move that enables 9,000 members to continue with their doctor's appointments, therapy and medications. The insurance company will maintain its current behavioral coverage for the same price, according to Cindy Hatcher, senior director of individual products at Capital Blue Cross.

The United States can have quality health care at a reasonable price, but a public divided over health care would first have to support expanding health insurance coverage, a panel of experts said Wednesday in Bethlehem. Author and journalist T.R. Reid, who highlighted the symposium sponsored by Capital Blue Cross, said places like Mesa County, Colo., and Seattle show that when patients, providers and insurers work together, good health and lower costs result. "The places that do the best in terms of good care and reasonable cost are places that come closest to covering everybody," he said.

Persistence has paid off for an Allentown cancer specialist and cancer patients seeking insurance coverage for chemotherapy or cancer hormone treatments provided in a doctor's office. Such services must be covered under amendments to a state law passed by the legislature early this month and signed by the governor July 7. It will be effective in September. Dr. David Prager, an oncologist, has been fighting for coverage of intravenous chemotherapy treatments given in a doctor's office for the past six years.

In the first of a series of final decisions on the shape of his national health-care plan, President Clinton has decided that every American should be guaranteed a comprehensive package of health benefits that includes all standard medical procedures and emphasizes primary and preventive care. In doing so, Clinton rejected an option, favored by many of his top economic advisers, that would have provided a much more limited initial package that would grow over time to include a more complete set of benefits.

More than a year ago, Gov. Ed Rendell made access to health care a major issue in this state with his "Cover All Pennsylvanians" proposal. Since then, the fact that tens of millions of Americans lack health insurance has become a major issue in the presidential race, too. However, little has changed either in the state or the nation. Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians live day-to-day without health insurance, hoping to stay healthy because they can't afford to get sick. Meanwhile, state lawmakers can't agree on either the scope of health care reform, its cost, or how to pay for it. Earlier this year, the state House drastically scaled back Gov. Rendell's plan, reducing the number of uninsured it would cover from 800,000 to 220,000.

Fred Berger of Hokendauqua was 47 years old when he suffered an aneurysm while watching the Super Bowl two years ago. The attack closed off the flow of oxygen to his brain, and he was left with mobility problems, short-term memory loss and no job. "We're being bankrupted," Fred's wife, Barbara, told U.S. Rep. Paul McHale when the congressman visited the Dorneyville Center yesterday morning to chat with local leaders of the American Association of...

By Jeff Christman Special to The Morning Call - Freelance | April 8, 2003

East Penn Township supervisors agreed to extend health care coverage to all full-time employees and their families after 90 days of service. The decision to amend the township's personnel policy came after a 40-minute executive session held for personnel purposes that Supervisor Chairman Todd Deem said was partially used to discuss the move. The decision extends coverage to Police Chief Herbert Truhe, who was without coverage, and township secretary-treasurer Elizabeth Eickhoff, who had individual coverage.

The Affordable Care Act's first open enrollment period came to a close last month, but the door is still open for some laid-off and underemployed workers. People who have health coverage through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA insurance, are eligible to shop for and buy coverage through the Obamacare marketplace up to July 1. In an announcement issued this month, the Department of Health and Human Services extended a special enrollment period because COBRA notifications may not have been clear about consumers' options.